The Space Shuttle Endeavour launched spectacularly this early morning, with the first part of the Japanese science module and the Dextre robotic arm from Canada.

Here's a little diversion for everyone, a hot little item making the rounds in Canadian news today.

The New York Post (I know, blech) ran a story yesterday claiming that:

a "tall, handsome" man in his late 40s, reputed to be the illegitimate son of John F. Kennedy, was alive and well and living in Vancouver.

Link.

More over the fold, or under the sheets, as may be...

I am posting tonight as an interested Canadian in your democratic process. I'm a regular at DKos, partly because I'm a politics junkie, and partly because what goes on in your United States has a measurable impact on the politics of my country.

More over the border...

Just a short diary tonight, but I thought it was worth bringing to the attention of the community that yet another person has died after being tasered by police, this time at Vancouver International Airport.

More over the border...

The spinmeisters of the Harper government in Canada, side-by-side with the Bush regime, NATO, and the embattled Pres. Karzai in Kabul, continue to try to portray the political and security situation in Afghanistan as "improving". But once in a while word leaks out from a more neutral source  that exposes the true situation.

CBC Radio's flagship program is "As It Happens", featuring phone interviews on public affairs stories all over the world. On Friday evening they broadcast an interview with retired CIA agent John Kiriakou, who was hired by Paramount Pictures in July to visit Kabul. What he had to say was eye-opening, to say the least.

More over the flip...

I haven't had much to post in a while. I've been watching the comings and goings of politics both north and south of the US/Canadian border. Some of it has inspired me (The NDP won a seat in Quebec!!!) but most has brought me down (the Move On ad was condemned???)

However, there is always something to hope for, something even better than a special comment by Keith Olbermann. Comrades, I give you...

On a day when I know many of my American DKos friends are feeling some despair, I thought it might be in order to spread a bit of cheer by letting you know that things are looking brighter north of the border.

In recent months there has been some concern that "Steve" Harper, our own home-grown little Bush-bot, and his Conservative cronies, might be positioning themselves to call a snap election and win a majority government, giving them and their agenda full reign for four or more years.

Good news: it ain't gonna happen. More over the border...

Rejecting the fear-mongering of Canada's Conservative government, the three opposition parties, Liberals, New Democrats, and the Bloc Quebecois, came together this evening to defeat a bill to extend two controversial laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

The House of Commons voted 159-124 not to renew the provisions -- which expire on March 1 -- on the grounds that they had never been used.

One provision allows police to arrest people suspected of planning an imminent terrorist attack and hold them for three days without charge. The other provides for investigative hearings in which a judge can compel witnesses to testify about alleged terrorist activities.

Canada's Conservative government is flailing on the environment issue. During the federal election campaign a year ago, the Cons, under now-Prime Minister "Steve" Harper, pledged to take the country out of the Kyoto Accord in favour of some "Made In Canada" solution to greenhouse gas emmissions, air pollution, etc., a pledge that they fulfilled very early in their mandate.

Now, backed into a corner by public opinion, the Cons are backpedalling for their little political lives, and last week had the absolute gall to try to claim an endorsement of their policies from Al Gore.

See the Al Gore SMACKDOWN over the flip.

CBC News reported tonight that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff are stubbornly refusing to remove Syrian/Canadian Maher Arar from the security watch list. Arar is still banned from entering the U.S., in spite of efforts on his behalf by Canada's Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

More over the border...

For those who need a lighter moment, I offer this gem from the pages of Canada's "national newspaper":

"On at least three separate occasions between October, 2005 and January, 2006, cleared defence contractors' employees travelling through Canada have discovered radio-frequency transmitters embedded in Canadian coins on their persons," reads the U.S. Defence Security Service report.

It gets nuttier, over the fold.

Damn. Always wanted to use the BREAKING title. At least in this case I think it's justified.

For those of you with an interest in the Canadian Liberal Party leadership race, I have the first ballot results, just in.

Over the flip...

Hey.  I'm hoping some of you folks might still be able to overcome your turkey-induced stupors and drag yourselves to the 'puter to read a bit of good news from north of the border.

I'm a subscriber to the Polaris Institute, a public interest research organization on peace here in Canada.  In the past couple of days the Institute has signed up Murray Dobbin as a regular contributor.  Murray is well-known in Canada as an author and broadcaster.  I think some of you will be interested in Murray's take on your recent elections and what they mean to the current Conservative government and PM Steven Harper.  To wit:

US Vote: Trouble for Harper - With Bush a lame duck, PM's plans look passé.

More on the flip...

The 2006 Congressional election ballgame has reached the seventh-inning stretch.  Seems an appropriate time for a spectator to take the opportunity to speak to all you players of my favorite team on the field.

Maybe you haven't heard me rooting for you from up here in the bleachers.  But that's cool; the main thing is I've been enjoying the game a lot, and I'm impressed with the lead you have built going into the last innings.  You've been working your asses off out there, the schmucks on the other team have made a lot of errors, and I'm confident you're going to put this one away.

Why am I sitting in the stands, you ask?  Simple, I'm a Canadian.